Wisconsin

Milwaukee suburban summits to bring heroin epidemic into focus

Laura Pulsifer (left) and her husband, Lee, of Elm Grove recount the series of events that led to the death of their son, Luke, from a heroin overdose. The Pulsifers were shocked that heroin was in their community and want others to know about it.

Laura Pulsifer vividly remembers the night her son, Luke, told her he used heroin.

Pulsifer woke up at 3 a.m. March 12 and realized her 19-year-old son hadn't returned home from visiting a friend. She texted him. Minutes stretched by. She sent another text. Finally, she called him.

"I did something really stupid, so stupid," Luke said. He was crying.

He told her he was at the Greenfield Municipal Center.

When she picked him up, she saw the bandages on his arms.

"What is all of this?" she said.

"I'm so sorry, Mom," he said. "It was heroin."

It was the drug that would kill the Elm Grove teen three months later.

This month, heroin summits will be held in Waukesha and Ozaukee counties. Although planned separately, both aim to bring together parents, law enforcement, business leaders, treatment providers and others to develop a strategy to address what many describe as a growing epidemic.

Across the state, heroin and opiate abuse is plaguing communities of every size. Last year in Milwaukee County, there were more deaths tied to opiate overdoses than there were homicides.

"Our community leaders, leaders of our private-sector organizations, they need to have a better understanding of what the problem really is so they are prepared when it comes time for them to make decisions about resources," Ozaukee County Sheriff's Lt. Rodney Galbraith said.

Galbraith leads the sheriff's office drug task force, which investigated three fatal opiate overdoses in 2013, compared with one in each of 2012 and 2011. Galbraith attributes much of a coinciding boost in thefts and burglaries to people stealing to feed their addictions.

But he says law enforcement can't arrest its way out of the problem.

"You're not going to solve the crime problem by drug addicts if you don't stop the addiction," he said. "Children somewhere between the ages of 5 and 15 need to understand that (heroin) should never be an option because if they use, it will ruin the rest of their lives."

Waukesha County recorded 13 fatal heroin overdoses in 2012, compared with five in 2011 and two in 2010. Numbers for 2013 were not immediately available.

In Milwaukee County, the majority of fatal drug overdoses in 2013 were caused by opiates, and 48 of the 180 drug overdose deaths — about 27% — were attributed to heroin. Those numbers are preliminary and will fluctuate because some 2013 death investigations are still pending.

The Pulsifers, shocked that heroin was in their community, wanted others to know about it. After Luke's death, they reached out to Chris Guthrie, one of Luke's teachers from Brookfield East High School, to see how they could help the school create programming.

"I was shocked, too," Guthrie said. "I didn't realize it was even an issue. I always pictured heroin addicts as the type of drug addict that you would see on TV or movies, junkies who are living in really terrible conditions, not teenagers."

Guthrie and the Pulsifers are part of the Elmbrook Heroin/Drug Awareness Task Force, which planned the Jan. 22 summit "It's Not My Kid, Or Is It?" in Brookfield. Guthrie said the event will provide an overview of the situation in Waukesha County, what parents should look for and where they can turn for help. More events are being developed to target students.

Waukesha County authorities have said twice the number of people die from accidental opiate overdoses than crashes, and the county is second only to Milwaukee in the number of heroin cases it sends to the state crime lab for analysis. Data recently released by the state shows the number of heroin cases sent to the lab is increasing everywhere.

The night he died, Luke argued with his parents and stormed upstairs. His dad, Lee, went to the home office in the basement. Laura stayed in the living room where she saw a TV news story about a man charged in a heroin overdose death.

She texted Luke and asked if he knew the suspect. He didn't know, he wrote.

She said she didn't want push him too much but added one more text: "Your drug of choice is a one and done."

Luke came downstairs and the two reconciled. Luke went out with a friend about 11:30 that night, but about an hour-and-a-half later, Laura saw the hall light switch on. Luke was home. She went to sleep.

The next morning, June 11, Laura walked into Luke's room to wake him. He was sitting cross-legged on a futon and slumped forward, as if he had just fallen asleep. He had died from injecting a lethal dose of heroin.

Two people have been arrested in connection with his death.

"There's no moving on from this," Laura said. "I don't want his death or his life to have been in vain. We can't be quiet and hush-hush suburbanite about it."

2 heroin summits set

Heroin summits that will bring together parents, law enforcement, businesses, treatment providers and others will be held this month in Waukesha and Ozaukee counties.